Poem by Rudyard Kipling

Romulus and Remus

            Canadian

Oh, little did the Wolf-Child care--
  When first he planned his home, 
What City should arise and bear
  The weight and state of Rome.

A shiftless, westward-wandering tramp,
  Checked by the Tiber flood, 
He reared a wall around his camp
  Of uninspired mud.

But when his brother leaped the Wall
  And mocked its height and make,
He guessed the future of it all
  And slew him for its sake.

Swift was the blow--swift as the thought
  Which showed him in that hour
How unbelief may bring to naught
  The early steps of Power.

Foreseeing Time's imperilled hopes
  Of Glory, Grace, and Love--
All singers, Caesars, artists, Popes--
  Would fail if Remus throve,

He sent his brother to the Gods,
  And, when the fit was o'er,
Went on collecting turves and clods
  To build the Wall once more!

1. The First Chantey
2. The Last of the Light Brigade
3. «Limits and Renewals». 1932. 12. The Threshold
4. Merrow Down
5. Justice

Print

5741 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version